Getting Together, Meeting the Other
by VocalDissonance
Summary: It is said that when a couple find this Pokemon, they are blessed with eternal love.
1. Painful Absences

A/N: This is my first love story fanfiction, so please don't be so harsh in your comments. I'm doing it on Twinleafshipping, one of my favorite Pokemon shippings. It's kind of rare on here, so thought I could add a little more to it. This will be a three part story, and it's set in the game world of Pokemon.

Constructive criticism = :D

Flames = ;~;

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, and no matter how hard I wish, it's just one that will never come true.

~Let's begin.~

Hikari shivered in the harsh, frosty winds of winter, hugging her Piplup closer to the point where he couldn't do so much as breathe. He squirmed uncomfortably in her stiff arms, grunting in pride when he managed to free one of his flippers. As for Hikari, she never noticed her Pokemon's antics; her eyes were pinned precisely on the entrance to Lake Verity.

She was worried.

When Jun had told her to meet him here for a little reunion, she had already expected him to be pacing around and stamping his foot impatiently and preparing to charge her with impossibly expensive fines. After half an hour of waiting, her arms and legs were numb and chilled to her bones and she had to call out Piplup to contribute his body heat, in which he did so reluctantly.

"Pip, Piplup," her Pokemon called out irritably. Smiling apologetically at him, she released her hold on him and left him to freely wander. _Where could that boy be? _Ironically, now she was the one to pace around in anticipation.

A sudden cry from Piplup caused her to whip around, startled. To her relief, he was just perched on the lake's edge, talking to a Luvdisc. Shrugging, she returned to her pacing, then stopped abruptly.

_Wait, a Luvdisc? s_he thought. _What is it doing here? It should be in Kanto! That's where it's warm now. Perhaps it got lost in migration? Speaking of which, where is its mate? Luvdiscs are supposed to travel in pairs, right? Isn't that typical behavior for them? _

Hikari swiftly rushed beside Piplup. She observed the poor Luvdisc: She was quaking in both cold from the icy water and in fear from the unfamiliarity and absence of her mate. Her eyes also brimmed with tears that threatened to fall out. Piplup was doing his best to soothe her, an abnormal gesture for the Pokemon who supposedly had one heck of a cocky ego.

She softly nudged him aside, which resulted him to squawk in surprise and indignation. Ignoring his protests, she leaned down and tenderly scooped up the almost-frozen Luvdisc. At first, she recoiled absentmindedly from the Pokemon's temperature -it was even colder than her hands!- but then quickly regained her senses and wrapped her white scarf around her. She cradled Luvdisc in her arms and returned a still-moping Piplup into the comforts of his Pokeball.

Hikari glanced down at Luvdisc; her normally vivid pink had subdued into a sickly frail peach, and what pained her the most were the hopefuls eyes that pleaded Hikari to comfort her, telling that everything was going to be okay. Hesitating, her own eyes darted from the entrance to the dying Pokemon. Surely Jun would forgive her if she skipped out this one time! _It's for an important cause, _she reminded herself, delaying no more time than she already had by heading straight for Sandgem Town's Pokemon Center. _No need to worry, Luvdisc. I'll get you home. I promise._

Little did she know that Jun was encountering nearly the same thing at Sandgem Beach.


	2. Painful Searches

A/N: Omigosh, huge, huge thanks to **_Divine Wolfe_** for being my first awesome reviewer for this and her kind, inspiring words of criticism. You've made my day! :) Also special thanks to an anonymous reviewer (Who are you?) for also giving this ragtag story a chance in the spotlight.

I'm not exactly positive of how Barry/Jun would act, considering the fact that his personality is particularly confusing (to me, at least), so it might seem a bit OOC-ish. Sorry 'bout that, but I hope you still enjoy it!

Disclaimer (for this chapter and the rest of this story): Me no own Pokemon. Just the plot.

~Let's begin.~

_Little did she know that Jun was encountering nearly the same thing at Sandgem Be_ach.

After his battle with Kouki (that made him late in the first place), and after Kouki left with a fond farewell, his Chimchar had also discovered the sick Luvdisc's mate lingering uncertainly at the beach's shore.

"Luvdisc!" he called, looking straight into the foliage of trees. "Luv-DISC!"

"Chim-char-ar!" Chimchar asked him.

"Luv, Luvdisc. Luvdisc, Luvdisc!"

Jun, busy gloating in his head about his twentieth win in a row that day, was snapped back to reality when his partner Pokemon tugged urgently at his pants and pointed to somewhere in the distance.

"Not now, Chimchar," he said distantly, not completely out of his reverie. "I'm still planning how to tell Kari how I whooped Kouki!"

Chimchar tried unsuccessfully a few more times to get the stubborn Trainer to go see Luvdisc, but finally managed when he threatened him with a Flamethrower forming in his mouth. Jun was still fuming about how rudely he was interrupted by his supposedly caring and understanding Pokemon. _Piplup sure would've understood... _

His thoughts vanished completely, however, when he saw the lovesick Luvdisc. "Woah! A Luvdisc!" He whipped out his Pokedex:

"**It lives in warm seas. It is said that couples finding this Pokemon will be blessed with eternal love."**

"Well, how 'bout that?" Jun whistled. "'Blessed with eternal love.' Now _that's _lucky." He quickly stooped down to the Luvdisc's level. "So, Luvvie, what're you doing out here in the cold? Where's your traveling party?"

"Luvvie" swiftly recounted his problem to Chimchar, who tried his best to translate it to human language.

After a few face-palmings, hasty drawings, and mildly loud groans from both Pokemons later, Jun finally got **part** of the story. "So you're saying you got lost on your migration route and you need help finding your way back! No prob! We can do that, right Chimchar?"

Chimchar nodded, but pointed to the various pictures and diagrams he drew on the snowy sand. He seemed to emphasize a specific one of what looked like two Luvdiscs surrounded by a giant lopsided heart. "Char! Char!"

Jun squinted and practically pressed his face to the sketch. "Hmm... I see... three hearts and two of them are... kissing? Oh, that's sick, Chimchar. Why'd you draw it like _that_? But really. How does this relate to anything of getting home, Luvvie?"

The two Pokemon screeched wildly in frustration, which caused Jun to back away quickly as far away as possible. He jogged backwards out of the beach and probably would have never stopped, until he collided with someone.

"Ow! Hey, kid! I'm fining you... Wha-? Kari?" He did a double-take. "Kari?"

Jun instinctively threw his arms over his face, not wanting to experience the "silent but deadly" treatment in which calm, collected Hikari pummeled him to the ground in unspeakable rage. "Ack! Listen, Kari, I'm real sorry for being late and everything, but there was Kouki, and we battled, and... Huh?"

Hikari shook her head, tears streaming down her face. She pushed him aside roughly and rushed into the Pokemon Center with something inhaling and exhaling laboriously in her arms. Jun felt a surprising, painful jolt in his heart that caught his breath in his throat.

_Why did he feel this way? _

Of course Kari had a right to be angry with him, but did she really have to be that subtle? And usually when she was angry, she was deeply, truly, honest-to-goodness _furious_, but at least she would slap him playfully on the back of his head once and get over with it. He remembered that whenever he would ask what it was for, she would reply with a grin with a message that he interpreted as "For being a thick-headed, dense jerk". Then afterward, they'd both have a good laugh about it.

Laughter was far from both of their minds, however.

But this time, Hikari wasn't furious; she seemed heartbroken over something close to her and only angry for a brief moment that someone had hindered her process in making things right again. It was a painful type of enmity, to be so helplessly close in one's goal, then to be suddenly shoved back when it was almost too late. As Jun contemplated his thoughts into order, it suddenly made sense. She wasn't mad at him; she was mad at _herself. _At her own stupidity for letting time slip when she needed it most.

He shook his head. Kari wasn't stupid! She was observant, intellegent, calm, playful, _breathtaking, graceful, enchanting, warm, comforting_- His thoughts skidded to a stop when he felt unbearably hot in his winter clothing. It was then that he decided to enter the Pokemon Center himself. _I won't make the same mistake she made_, he convinced himself. _And I won't let her make that stupid decision ever again._

"Oh, crap!" he screamed suddenly in the lobby, causing a few people to jump and two little kids and a baby to start crying. "I forgot Chimchar!"

With what Hikari called a "Jun M.(emorable) M.(oment)" done, he sped off for Sandgem Beach again to retrieve his Partner Pokemon.

But what he saw in the sand wasn't what he had expected -or wanted- to see.


End file.
